SPECIAL RELEASE:
MJ-12 UPDATE
ParaNet Alpha 09/29 -- As predicted here, Citizens Against UFO
Secrecy (CAUS) has published the most definitive expose' to date on
the mysterious MJ-12 documents.
According to CAUS, the documents are a hoax.
In the September issue of the organization's journal JUST CAUSE,
editor Barry Greenwood enumerates several points which, taken as a
whole, fairly conclusively show the documents to be fraudulent. The
most impressive of these has to do with the Top Secret "Executive
Order," a document allegedly signed by then-President Harry Truman
authorizing the formation of the Majestic-12 group. The document was
listed as Attachment "A", "Executive Order #092447", in the Schedule
of Attachments to the Hillenkoetter Briefing. The number, "092447"
is not an authentic Executive Order number, but rather represents
the date the order was signed - 9/24/47. CAUS's research at the Tru-
man Library shows that no EOs were signed that day; that EO's 9891
thru 9896 all cover the period in question; that none are missing or
out of order; and that none have anything to do with MJ-12 or UFOs.
Other CAUS evidence includes points which have been covered by Para-
Net, Saucer Smear and CSICOP, such as the apparent fraudulence of
the Cutler to Twining memo, the irregular dating format, and the
seemingly shoddy quality of research employed by the Moore-Shandera-
Friedman team (MSF). CAUS also takes great exception to several
other, ancillary documents, released by MSF in April, such as a CIA
memo and a briefing paper on "Project Aquarius." They report that
MSF began de-emphasizing these documents over the course of the sum-
mer, especially after CAUS confronted William Moore with the evi-
dence for their fraudulence.
But the most significant portion of the CAUS newsletter (this issue
of which is devoted entirely to MJ-12) deals in a discussion of who
may be behind the concoction. ParaNet readers may remember that in a
recent issue of Saucer Smear, Supreme Commander James Moseley an-
nounced that he had a "name" that he was investigating in connection
with the Majestic-12 controversy, and that he would release it soon.
That name, supplied to him by ParaNet, was Col. Richard Doty, Spec-
ial Agent, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. CAUS editor
Greenwood agrees with Moseley's, and our, suspicions. In brief:
- TV producer Linda Howe, best known for her landmark expose' on
cattle mutilation, STRANGE HARVEST, was contacted by a government
source in 1984 to "aid in producing a documentary, essentially pro-
viding an answer to UFOs." The government source was Richard Doty.
The documentary was never completed.
- Dr. Paul Bennewitz, mentioned in the Air Force telex
(AQUARIUS.DOC) in connection with his having photographed objects
over Kirtland Air Force Base, used the phrase "Extraterrestrial
Biological Entities" in an interview with a UFO researcher in early
1986. "The phrase is identical to the MJ-12 Briefing Paper's des-
cription of aliens and came a full year before the public release of
the MSF papers." Bennewitz was investigated by Doty, and the two are
known to have maintained contact.
- Peter Gersten, founder and director of CAUS, reports having inter-
viewed a military intelligence source in 1983, during which he was
informed of a wide range of bizarre UFO material, including confirm-
ation of the Roswell Incident. That source was Richard Doty.
(Quotes above are from JUST CAUSE).
COMMENTARY:
JUST CAUSE is to be commended for their diligence, their patience,
and their intellectual honesty. Greenwood and Publisher Larry Fawcett go
to great pains to chastise the MSF team for their credulity and their
pseudo-scientific approach. "What has happened to critical thinking on
this affair? ... A claim must be solidly supported by an interlocking
network of facts leading to a logical conclusion. In this case -- we have
a mess!" They are quite right when they proclaim that MJ-12 appears to be
a "giant black eye on the face of Ufology," and we certainly hope that
when the affair is recalled by future historians, it will be remembered
that it was a pro-UFO group, CAUS, that provided the most damning evidence
of fraud.
CAUS is also to be commended for not entertaining the notion that
Moore faked the documents, a wild and idiotic speculation being given
serious play by debunker Philip Klass. However, it is interesting that,
while pointing to Richard Doty, CAUS does not delve into possible motiva-
tions.
We'd like to be able to tell you now that the affair is over. Alas,
there is more, much more to come. In fact, we may be only at the end of
chapter one.
Prior to the release of JUST CAUSE, I spoke with a man at Kirtland
Air Force Base who claimed to be Richard Doty -- M/Sgt Richard Doty, care-
taker of the Officer's Club. Sgt. Doty assured me that he was not THE
Richard Doty, and that they were not related; that COLONEL Doty had been
reassigned somewhere in Europe; and that for the six months that he,
SERGEANT Doty, had been at Kirtland, he had been harangued by all manner
of journalists, researchers, and the merely curious. (It was he who con-
firmed for us that 60 Minutes has a UFO story in the can). Peter Gersten
of CAUS insists that the Colonel and the Sergeant are one and the same
("he's been pulling that bullshit for months"); I maintain that that is
impossible. He may be able to pull off a masquerade on US, but how would
he maintain the charade on his fellow base mates? Why would he not change
his name instead of his rank? I do, however, agree that it is EXTREMELY
strange; what, after all, are the chances of two people with the name
Richard Doty even being in the same branch of the service, let alone being
assigned to the same AFB?
And there is more. Smear publisher James Moseley has just returned
from Los Angeles, where he became the first person outside the immediate
MJ-12 group to view the remaining evidence that is constantly alluded to
by MSF. Among that evidence are audio and videotapes of SEVERAL individ-
uals, whom Moore claims are authentic military intelligence types, spil-
ling the beans on the entire government UFO program. What little detail
Moseley gave us, we have been asked to keep under our hat, however,
Moseley himself, best described as the most skeptical of believers, is
impressed with MSF's sincerity, and has come quite close to doing an about
face on his original dismissal of the entire affair. He seems convinced
that THIS IS STILL A MAJOR STORY.
And I don't blame him.
From the beginning of this affair, the possibility of a government
disinformation campaign has been furtively hinted at, but mostly dismissed
as senseless and paranoiac. Why, after all, should the government attract
attention TOWARD UFOs? What proof of a government cover-up did we have
before MJ-12? Aside from the Roswell Incident, which is pretty much dead
in the water, none. One would have thought that the government's best move
would be utter silence, in the hopes that Ufologists would give up and go
home. A campaign designed to sensationalize, then discredit, a set of doc-
uments could only be counter-productive.
But imagine if you will, just for a second, that (shudder) (pause)
MJ-12 is real. Imagine that there really is a high-level panel engaged in
secretly studying the UFO problem at the behest of the President. It may
not actually be called MJ-12. But it is Top Secret. You are assigned the
task of protecting it from exposure. You become aware that several indi-
viduals who have knowledge of its existence are unstable security risks,
and may in fact be talking to news media, or UFO journalists, or whatever.
You decide to set up a hoax "exposure" of a similar, fictitious group,
with the idea of discrediting it afterwards - the so-called "false flag"
ploy.
The effects of such a maneuver are obvious. After the dust is set-
tled and the responsible news media and UFO community are pretty much
satisfied that its a hoax, anyone coming forward at this point to expose
the real panel will be summarily ignored. No one, especially those with
the resources to dig further, will pay the slightest attention.
If this sounds like just so much paranoia, you're probably right.
But consider what would happen today, if someone came forward and said,
"But wait! There really IS such a group!" After reading of CAUS's expose',
would you believe them?
The above scenario is, admittedly, highly speculative, and most
likely not the case. But the question of what has motivated this elabor-
ate, expensive song-and-dance lingers. Much has been lost. What has been
gained?
--Jim Speiser